Happy 100th Birthday Jimmy Stewart

[Fletch]

(5/20/1908 - 7/2/1997)

My pick (and I'm sure a lot of others') for most likeable screen actor of all time. Also war hero, snappy dresser, and to a generation gone by at least, prime male role model.

What are your favorite Jimmy Stewart performances?

his IMDb page

 

[dhermann1]

Spirit of St Louis (even tho he was a littler old for the part)
Vertigo
Winchester 73
Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation
Flight of the Phoenix
and of course
Harvey
plus all his appearances on Carson

 

[Tomasso]

Ah, that explains why my local PBS station aired a Jimmy Stewart documentary last weekend.

He would often recite his poems on Johnny Carson.

 

[KY Gentleman]

He was my favorite cowboy star in movies like "The Man From Laramie" or "Bend In The River", "Winchester 1873". To top it off he was "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" . (Don't give away the ending if you've seen it!).

 

[Nick D]

"Anatomy of a Murder" I may be biased, since I grew up in and around Marquette, and went through the same door as he did in the movie to get my marriage licence at the court house But it's still a great performance.

 

[Fletch]

I'm watching TMWSLV right now. Noticing the way it feels like a TV western, or maybe an "eastern" movie, all intimate and indoorsy and full of backstory while Stewart has the lead. Then when John Wayne takes it over, a taste of the simpler, slower-talking world of men with guns comes with him.

 

[skyvue]

Favorite JS performances?

THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
THE MORTAL STORM
VERTIGO
REAR WINDOW
THE PHILADELPHIA STORY

Just to name a few...

 

[skyvue]

I wrote to Stewart a few years ago, when I was still pursuing an acting career. I sent a picture for him to sign and told him what an inspiration he was to me.

He signed the picture, To Brett, Be a good actor -- Jimmy Stewart, and sent it back to me.

I prize it, as you might imagine, even though I'm no longer acting.

He was one of my absolute favorites. i regret never having gotten to meet him.

 

[Nick D]

He signed the picture, To Brett, Be a good actor -- Jimmy Stewart, and sent it back to me.

I prize it, as you might imagine, even though I'm no longer acting.

Even if you're no longer acting, the advice still stands. Whatever you do, do it well.

He did it well.

 

[splatt]

"The Glenn Miller Story" and of course..."Harvey" :eusa_clap

Harvey and I sit in the bars... have a drink or two... play the juke box. And soon the faces of all the other people they turn toward mine and they smile. And they're saying, "We don't know your name, mister, but you're a very nice fella." Harvey and I warm ourselves in all these golden moments. We've entered as strangers - soon we have friends. And they come over... and they sit with us... and they drink with us... and they talk to us. They tell about the big terrible things they've done and the big wonderful things they'll do. Their hopes, and their regrets, and their loves, and their hates. All very large, because nobody ever brings anything small into a bar. And then I introduce them to Harvey... and he's bigger and grander than anything they offer me. And when they leave, they leave impressed. The same people seldom come back; but that's envy, my dear. There's a little bit of envy in the best of us.

No one else could run through that line like Jimmy Stewart and leave you with a huge smile on your face thinking "wouldn't it be great to have a friend like Harvey"